Despotism, Destructive To Religion And Government Ideals

My brethren and sisters, there are abroad in the world forces—and this I have been saying to you on every occasion that presented itself for the last fifteen years, here in this pulpit—there are forces abroad that do not come from God. There is no dictatorship in the world today, whether that dictatorship be of one man or of a group exercising such control as exists in Russia, that is not striking first and foremost at religion. They are trying to tear down the worship of God and to substitute something else in its stead, and I regret to say that in some parts of this country, in some states of this Union, the issue now seems to be between an ordered, law-governed society and a despotism destructive of religion and of all that our government stands for. I assume this because of the past record of those who are advocating the measures to which I refer.

May I say this: We believe that Christ will come and reign personally upon the earth. But that is no reason why I should advocate the establishment of a monarchy to overturn the government of the United States. We believe in the United Order, something that was taken away from us because we could not live it, and the lesser law was given, the law of tithing—which we are not living either; but our belief in the United Order is no reason why we should support a movement for Communism, to the overturning of our government. These two propositions are absolutely parallel, the one as rational and reasonable as the other. When the Lord wants his people to move into the United Order he will use his anointed servant to direct the way.

Source: President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
General Conference, October 1934

Topics: Freedom, Religious; United Order

Rely On The Lord’s Plan

I refer to the words of Elder Richards, and I tell you that any Latter-day Saint who does pay an income tax, and who at the same time pays his tithing, his fast offerings, his donations, his help for the poor, will never be able to get the full benefit under the fifteen per cent which the tax income provides for. In other words, those men among us who have the Spirit of the Lord, and who obey his laws, will always spend more than fifteen per cent of their income for the Church and its work and people. That is one reason why I say to you as I said a few moments ago, that if we had but hearkened to the Lord and obeyed his commandments there would have been no occasion for us to have drawn on the federal government. I also say to you that in my opinion, reached after mature reflection, this people would have been better off materially and spiritually, if we had relied on the Lord’s plan and had not used one dollar of government funds.

Source: President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
General Conference, October 1934

Topics: Welfare

On the 17th of September, 1887, a great celebration was held in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia in honor of the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. The President of the United States, Grover Cleveland, and other distinguished guests were present on that occasion. A chorus of one thousand people rendered the beautiful poem of the German poet Schiller, entitled “An Appeal to Truth,” which had been put to music by Mendelssohn. As they sang the lines of the poem: “Upon the divine truth of the freedom of man and the knowledge of God, does our civilization stand,” the guests stood with bowed heads in gratitude for the blessings of the Lord. Then President Cleveland arose and among other things said: “When we look down one hundred years and see the origin of our Constitution, when we contemplate all its trials and triumphs, when we realize how completely the principles upon which it is based have met every national need and every national peril, how devoutly should we say with Franklin, ‘God governs in the affairs of men,’ and how solemn should be the thought that to us is delivered this ark of the people’s covenant and to us is given the duty to shield it from impious hands. Another centennial day will come, and millions yet unborn will inquire concerning our stewardship and the safety of the Constitution. God grant that they may find it unimpaired.” Today, there are forces at work to undermine this sacred gift of our fathers. These forces are expressed in acts and words of disrespect for law, order, and authority. Lord Macaulay feared for our democratic institutions, and once expressed the thought that institutions purely democratic “must sooner or later, destroy liberty or civilization, or both.” In reply to this thought of the great English essayist, we can only say that we hope that the citizens of our great republic will have from age to age a finer reverence and greater love for the principles of human rights which are set forth in the Constitution of our country. When our fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence and gave us the divine thought: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” we must ever remember that there are no rights that are not duties. The Declaration of Independence was not justified if it was not obligatory. So this is true with the still greater document of government, the Constitution of the United States. “There are no rights that are not duties.”

Source: Elder Levi Edgar Young
General Conference, October 1934

Topics: Rights; US Constitution

The Prophet Isaiah once wrote: “Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn,” and the ancient Psalmist of Zion warned us when he said: “Remove not the ancient land-mark, which thy fathers have set.” I believe that the life of America depends upon the religion of America, and if this our government is to be preserved, it will be because America is pervaded, inspired, and controlled by the spirit of a faith in Almighty God. Our country was settled by people imbued by deep religious convictions. When the Pilgrim fathers came and landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, they drew up the Mayflower Compact which in part reads: “In the Name of God, Amen. We whose names are written, the loyal subjects of our Lord, King James, by the Grace of God King ... having undertaken for the glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith . . .” “In the name of God” those Pilgrim fathers braved the terrors of the deep to plant homes in America and to establish religious freedom. The Quakers came to Pennsylvania, the Catholics to Marland, and the Methodists to the Carolinas. James Oglethorpe who brought colonists to Georgia required that his people draw up a form of government based on the fundamentals that were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai: the Ten Commandments. This nation must naturally be pervaded by a spiritual life, and we have today no more important duty than to inspire the youth with a true religious spirit. When the First Continental Congress met in Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia in September, 1774, Dr. Jacob Duche was called in to offer prayers, and as he prayed, John Adams of Massachusetts tells us that tears “gushed into the eyes of all present.”

Source: Elder Levi Edgar Young
General Conference, October 1934

Topics: America, History

I believe that in the heart of the average American there is a deep religious conviction. Our nation has a religious life which must be maintained in determining national questions and controlling national policy. The spirit of mutual respect and good will, of justice and peace, of human brotherhood, is the spirit of the Christian religion, and this spirit teaches us one and all that the object of political activity is not merely to vote or to take sides in elections, but to direct our thoughts and deeds to noble actions and Christian principles. For this reason, we must educate the youth in an understanding of freedom and democracy; we must teach them that the perpetuity of our government depends on a deep conviction of the reality of the kingdom of God and the spiritual quality of life. We Latter-day Saints believe implicitly in the kingdom of God and that in time it will be established upon the earth with Christ our Lord as King. No more beautiful ideal of government can be known than this.

Source: Elder Levi Edgar Young
General Conference, October 1934

Topics: Education

Only by statistics, can the federal government make even a fitful attempt to plan, regulate, control, or reform various industries—or impose central planning and socialization on the entire economic system. If the government received no railroad statistics, for example, how in the world could it even start to regulate railroad rates, finances, and other affairs? How could the government impose price controls if it didn’t even know what goods have been sold on the market, and what prices were prevailing? Statistics . . . are the eyes and ears of the interventionists: of the intellectual reformer, the politicians, and the governemnt bureaucrat. Cut off those eyes and ears, destroy those crucial guidelines to knowledge, and the whole threat of government intervention is almost completely eliminated.

Source: Murray N. Rothbard

Topics: Central Planning

The Will of the Majority

There is a principle lying at the very foundation of this Church, and it is at the foundation of this government as well, for in the laying of the foundation of this government it was conceded that it would be impossible for us to go forward unless it was agreed that the will of the majority, expressed in law, must be regarded as the rule governing the conduct of the minority as well. Hence our Constitution came into existence.

It is so in this Church. No man is muzzled. President Grant does not muzzle his brethren. He seeks for all the light and wisdom that they have. But there is also a rule that when we reach a conclusion the decision of the majority obtains, and it is the duty of the minority, either in the government or in this great American church that is also builded upon this same glorious principle, that we obey the will of the majority expressed in law.

Source: Elder Melvin J. Ballard
General Conference, October 1934

Topics: Democracy

First Great Lesson In Americanism

I remember that the first great lesson in Americanism I received was in the first great campaign under statehood in Utah, when we were in a presidential election. I recall how my father, a leader of one of the parties here, had been urgently recommending and doing everything in his power to get his candidate elected, but he was defeated. I recall the practice of my father to always pray as earnestly for the President of the United States as for the President of the Church. Now, the morning of the inauguration of this successful president, who was not my father’s candidate, it was my father’s turn to pray and I was watching. But to my astonishment he prayed more earnestly for that man than he had ever prayed for a president before; and I said: “Father, you surely forgot yourself this morning. You did not intend to pray for that fellow. You did not vote for him. You did not want him. You thought your man would be a better president.” He said: “I certainly did not forget. It is true I thought my man would have been a better president, and I still think so, but the majority of the people did not agree with me; and the majority of the people having spoken he is now my President, and I am going to support him as though I had voted for him; and pray for him, yes. And he will need my prayers much more than the other fellow would have needed them.”

Source: Elder Melvin J. Ballard
General Conference, October 1934

Topics: Citizenship

In The Hands Of God

Don’t worry about the future of the Church. It is in the hands of the Almighty. Don’t worry about the future of the Government. That, too, is in the hands of God, and he will guide it and direct it aright, and carry it forward until it, too, shall find its glorious mission. God speed his cause on. Wars, yes, and bloodshed will come, and thrones will totter, but out of every conflict will come the onward progress of truth and righteousness in the preparation of this world for its golden age, for the coming of the Son of God!

Source: Elder Melvin J. Ballard
General Conference, October 1934

Topics: Heavenly Interest in Human Events

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